Fault finding in JP

[geojbb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Bret Bennington)]

Stefan Bergston wrote:

>It's rather fun and (at least sometimes) illuminating to go fault-finding
>in Jurassic Park, but maybe we should be more bashful in our
>Crichton/Spielberg-bashing. The team behind the movie have made a better
>effort to get things "right" than most makers of science-fiction movies, so
>let's grant them the right to add some details for effect as long as it's
>not too flagrant or ridiculous.
...
>I guess, though, that Bennington's kids might prefer finding plain errors
>in the movie. No big problem, just as long as they remember that there are
>errors and ERRORS and that even well-established TRVTHS occasionally turn
>out to be errors.
>

These excellent points are well taken.  However, I would point out that
there are differences between professional paleontologists nitpicking
Jurassic Park and asking Jr. High School students to question the
scientific content of the movie.  In the latter case, the objective is not
to train kids to be cynical consumers of cinema, rather the goal is to
teach them something about science (in this case dinosaurs and DNA) and
then get them to apply what they have learned and think critically.  In
many ways, Jurassic Park is an ideal movie for this exercise precisely
because it did strive (with much success) to get things right.  There is
enough fact to make the film credible, a few amusing gaffs to remind us
that Hollywood lurks behind the screen, and much interesting  science
speculation to provide for lively discussions about what science does and
doesn't know for certain about dinosaurs.

J Bret Bennington
Department of Geology
114 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11550-1090
516-463-5568
FAX: 516-463-6010
E-mail: geojbb@vaxc.hofstra.edu